The Light of Evolution, Golbat Appears

The white light gradually faded, and Golbat appeared.

Pokémon: Golbat

Gender: Female

Attribute: Poison type, Flying

Ability: Infiltrator (Can penetrate the opponent's barriers and Substitute to attack.)

Aptitude: Orange

Basic Moves: Absorb, Supersonic, Astonish, Mean Look, Poison Fang, Swift, Confuse Ray, Shadow Ball, Quick Guard

Egg Moves: Cross Poison, Air Slash, Pursuit

The evolved Golbat was at least twice the size of Zubat, and her appearance was far more intimidating.

"Awesome, Golbat!"

Lu Ze was so excited he nearly jumped up. It was his first time witnessing a Pokémon evolve, and it was his own Pokémon at that. It was incredibly thrilling.

"Golbat has not lost the ability to battle. The battle will continue."

The referee waved his flag to signal that the battle would continue. Normally, if a Pokémon evolved during a match, the referee had the authority to pause the battle until the evolution was complete. Being interrupted by external forces during evolution could cause serious harm to a Pokémon. Interrupting an opponent's Pokémon while it evolved would not only earn everyone's contempt, but also result in official accountability after the match.

"Golbat, can you still go on?"

"Fuga~"

"Then let's go."

"Golbat—Air Slash!"

"Haha, let's keep going. Torkoal—Clear Smog!"

Sui Yan's thinking was simple. Even if Zubat had evolved into Golbat, his stamina would only recover somewhat. It was impossible for his stamina to be fully restored through a single evolution. Rather than gamble on Stone Edge's accuracy, he might as well trade damage with Clear Smog. Torkoal had plenty of stamina anyway, so Golbat would definitely be the first to fall.

Sure enough, after taking another Clear Smog, Golbat began to pant lightly again. Evolution had not restored much of her stamina; it had merely allowed her to fight a little longer.

"Golbat!"

Lu Ze called out worriedly.

However, Golbat refused Lu Ze's concern. She wanted to finish this battle. Even if she lost, she wanted to see it through.

Lu Ze seemed to understand what Golbat meant.

"Then let's go, Golbat—Shadow Ball!"

"Torkoal, Stone Edge!"

Sui Yan caught Lu Ze off guard. Lu Ze had thought Sui Yan would keep using Clear Smog to trade health, but he had not expected this guy to disregard all sportsmanship and directly use Stone Edge.

Golbat had already decided to endure the damage, but what came at her was not clumps of mud, but wave after wave of sharp stones. Relying on her speed and reactions, Golbat dodged the first few Stone Edges. Unfortunately, the stones were too densely packed, and she failed to evade those that followed.

"Golbat is unable to battle. Torkoal wins. The defeated side must switch to their next Pokémon. Exceeding the time limit will result in defeat."

"You did great, Golbat."

Lu Ze recalled Golbat into her Poké Ball, then took out Munchlax's Poké Ball.

"Go, Munchlax! Give that despicable Sui Yan a heavy punch!"

"Snorlax!"

Munchlax appeared on the field. Her adorable face was trying its best to make a fierce expression, which only made her look hilarious. Lu Ze tried hard not to laugh aloud, but Sui Yan could not hold it in and laughed happily.

Munchlax scratched her head dumbly, somewhat at a loss.

"Munchlax—close the distance, then Counter!"

"Torkoal, Stone Edge!"

Munchlax was struck by Stone Edge as she charged forward, then immediately unleashed Counter. A mass of dark energy burst from Munchlax's body and slammed fiercely into Torkoal.

"Damn it, he read me. This Lu Ze is seriously too much. He even has to predict me in a practice match."

Sui Yan glared at Lu Ze unhappily, while Lu Ze grinned in delight. He knew Sui Yan could only use Stone Edge to seize the initiative, but Sui Yan did not know that Munchlax knew Counter. Munchlax's Special Defense stat was extremely high, meaning Torkoal's Special Attack moves would struggle to deal effective damage. On top of that, Thick Fat halved the damage from Ice type and Fire type moves, while Fire type Special Attack damage was halved again. Hitting Munchlax with those moves was practically just Tickling her, so Stone Edge was his only option.

"Munchlax—Mega Punch!"

"Torkoal—Withdraw!"

Munchlax rushed over and landed a Mega Punch on Torkoal's shell, making even the ground tremble. However, the actual damage was not much.

Lu Ze had no choice, and neither did Sui Yan. Munchlax had not learned any Special Attack moves yet, and her moves were basically all physical attacks. Torkoal's Defense stat was absurdly high, and Withdraw raised it by another stage, making him even harder to damage. Meanwhile, the super-effective moves Stomping Tantrum, Bulldoze, and Earthquake had not been learned yet. There was the Egg Move Fissure, but its accuracy was too low, so it had to be used carefully.

Sui Yan was equally helpless. Although Munchlax was slow, Torkoal was not fast either. Besides, after attacking once, he could not run away anyway and could only take the hits head-on. Munchlax's Defense stat was somewhat weak, but Torkoal only had those two physical moves, and he also had to guard against Munchlax's Counter.

"Munchlax—Bulk Up!"

"Torkoal—Smog!"

After Munchlax struck a bodybuilding pose, Torkoal sprayed her face with purple toxic fumes. Unfortunately, Munchlax was not poisoned.

"Munchlax, keep going—Bulk Up!"

"I don't believe it. Torkoal—Smog!"

"Munchlax—Bulk Up!"

"Torkoal—Smog!"

Finally, after the third round, Smog successfully inflicted Poisoning on Munchlax.

"Let's get greedy one more time, Munchlax—Bulk Up!"

"Torkoal—Stone Edge!"

Unfortunately, Torkoal's Stone Edge did not deal much damage. With four layers of Bulk Up boosting her Defense stat, Stone Edge was little more than a scratch.

At this point, aside from the Poisoning, Torkoal could no longer deal any damage to Munchlax at all.

"Munchlax—continuous Thunder Punches!"

"Torkoal—Withdraw!"

Electricity flashed around Munchlax's hands as she punched Torkoal's heavy shell again and again. The Attack stat boost brought by Bulk Up made even Torkoal unable to withstand the repeated blows.

"Torkoal, hang in there—Withdraw!"

"Haha, Munchlax—Fissure!"

Munchlax gave a silly grin and stomped the ground. A crack, neither too large nor too small, appeared beneath Torkoal, just wide enough for the shell-bound Torkoal to fall into.

"Torkoal is unable to battle. Munchlax wins."

The referee raised the flag in his hand as he looked at Torkoal's spinning eyes.

Sui Yan smiled bitterly as he recalled Torkoal. The battle was over, and he understood now. Munchlax's earlier Bulk Up boosts had merely been Lu Ze's feint. The real killing move was Fissure, saved for the moment Torkoal used Withdraw to raise his Defense stat.

After all, even if Munchlax's Attack stat was fully stacked and Torkoal's Defense stat was fully stacked, neither could hurt the other. Munchlax was also Poisoned. Without Fissure, Torkoal would have had a very good chance of winning. Unfortunately, Lu Ze had kept that move hidden.

"Not bad, kid. You've improved a lot."

Lu Ze walked over, smiling as he patted Sui Yan on the shoulder.

Sui Yan smiled bitterly. "Too bad I still couldn't beat you."

"It's not your fault. Egg Moves really are impossible to guard against."

"True."

After Lu Ze's reassurance, Sui Yan returned to his lively nature. He went back to the spectator seats and asked Tang Yunqin and Su Tingxi,

"Do you two want to have a battle?"

Su Tingxi looked at Tang Yunqin with a bitter smile.

"No. I just asked whether her Pokémon were hiding any moves, and she told me that her Shellder had learned both Icicle Spear and Ice Shard, on top of Feebas's Ice Beam. I don't think my Dratini can win one against two, so I'll pass."

Sui Yan threw an arm around Su Tingxi's head.

"Don't pass! How will you know you can't win if you don't fight?"

Su Tingxi broke free and looked at Sui Yan. "Then how about you and me next time?"

"I don't want to. Why don't you battle Lu Ze?"

"I've fought him before. I lost."

"But I fought you before too, and I lost as well."

Su Tingxi smiled. "You beat me last time. This time, I want to beat you."

Sui Yan snapped, "Damn it, then bring it on! I refuse to believe it!"

Su Tingxi smiled like a fox that had stolen a rabbit. "After Swablu hatches next week, we'll have a two-on-two. Fair enough."

Tang Yunqin said, "The Baby Cup is next week."

Su Tingxi narrowed his eyes. "Then the week after that. There'll always be a chance."

Sui Yan was genuinely annoyed. "Hmph, I'll fight you. It's not like I can't beat you."

Su Tingxi narrowed his eyes and smiled brightly. "Sure."

After a bout of laughing and messing around, the group trained their Pokémon for a while longer. Lu Ze said he had something to do and needed to head back first, so he left early.

Lu Ze thought about the Mega Stone from yesterday. In his past memories, Lu Ba's research institute seemed to have some similar stones. He had not paid attention to them back then, but now that he thought about it, they should have been Mega Stones.

That was why Lu Ze left first this time. He wanted to check Lu Ba's research institute. If they really were Mega Stones, then he could properly study them with good reason. Perhaps Mega Evolution in this world would appear ahead of schedule.

Inside the Day Care, Lu Ze saw Lu Ma as soon as he entered. She was idly scrolling through short videos beside the counter.

"Mom, is Dad in the research institute?"

Lu Ma put down her phone, her expression turning unfriendly. "All you ever talk about is your dad. Can't you tell me what you need?"

Lu Ze said helplessly, "Mom~ Stop copying the short videos. I have a few questions for Dad."

"Tch, boring. Your dad's there. Go find him yourself."

After saying that, Lu Ma listlessly leaned over the counter and continued scrolling through short videos.

"Got it, Mom."

Lu Ze greeted Lu Ma and headed toward the back.

"Geh!!"

"Whoa!"

"Gengar, you scared me again!"

"Geh~"

As soon as Lu Ze reached the back, the suddenly appearing Gengar startled him. The Ghost-type's racial tendency to scare people was truly displayed to the fullest by Gengar.

"I'll play with you later. Where's my dad? I need to ask him something first."

"Geh~"

Gengar agreed, grabbed Lu Ze's hand, and led him all the way to the entrance of the research institute. He pointed inside, indicating that Lu Ba was there.

"Okay, I'm going in. Remember not to go to the front. My mom's there."

Before entering, Lu Ze did not forget to remind Gengar, lest he get threatened by Lu Ma again for scaring someone and become too afraid to leave the house for a month.

"Geh..."

Gengar raised his tiny hand and wiped away the imaginary sweat on his forehead, looking utterly terrified.

Lu Ze smiled smugly. You scared me, so now I'll scare you too.

He then pushed open the door and entered the research institute. Lu Ba was not alone inside; someone else was talking with him. Hearing the sound, that person turned around.

Lu Ze said in surprise,

"Why are you here?"